Darren O'Rourke (Meath East, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Today's globalised economy is overwhelmingly based on a linear model of production and consumption. We take, make and then waste. The environmental impact of a linear throwaway model in which we extract great quantities of natural resources to make things we may only use once before disposing of them is not sustainable. It is estimated the raw material resources we use in a year is already 50% more than nature can replenish in a year. On present trends, this will rise to a factor of three by 2050. The circular economy offers an alternative, whereby waste and resource use is minimised and the value of products and materials is maintained as long as possible.

Getting items repaired instead of binning them and remanufacturing items by taking them apart and using parts again in new items has the potential to decrease the amount of primary resource extraction and reduce the carbon impact of manufacturing and transporting single-use items. We need to start thinking and acting in new ways. Our planet simply demands it. As a result, Sinn Féin welcomes most aspects of the Bill. What is unusual about the Bill is that the circular economy is not pioneering or anything new. It tries to recreate what happened in days gone by. Years ago, very little food was thrown away in homes. People mended the soles of their shoes, sewed torn clothes and passed them down, and repaired broken household items. Modern day consumerism has fuelled a damaging throwaway approach, resulting in huge, almost unimaginable, amounts of waste, something the Bill and a national strategy now seek to reverse.

All of the responsibility to change this approach cannot be placed at the feet of workers and families. The corporations that have profited hugely from this throwaway model need to be tackled and forced to take appropriate action to change their behaviour. Last year I travelled to COP26 in Glasgow and highlighted the irony of the CEO of Amazon speaking at a major climate change conference when, just weeks earlier, a few miles up the road from Glasgow, the company he heads was found to be destroying millions of items of unsold stock every year, including smart televisions, laptops, drones and hairdryers, simply to ensure the excess did not impact on its profits. It was a disgusting display of greed and waste. While disposable cups might be the headline for the media today, there is no point charging consumers for using a coffee cup if such disgraceful behaviour by major corporations is not challenged and addressed by the Government and regulators.

The Bill seeks to give the Minister the power to introduce new environmental levies on single-use items and, in the longer term, to prohibit placing on the market of certain environmentally harmful products. A total of 91% of all plastics are single use and the rate of mass production since plastic became commonly used almost six decades ago has resulted in 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic pollution. Single-use plastics are a scourge on our environment, with a vast amount ending up in our oceans and having a major impact on our marine ecosystems. It was amazing to see the speed at which industries could abandon some single-use plastics and move to a more sustainable model when they had to under the EU single-use plastic directive that came into force last year. It is a shame it took so long to address this, in addition to microplastics, with so much ending up in landfill and our oceans.

Officials from the Department raised the prospect of applying a levy on all classes of coffee cups, including plastic and biodegradable, to discourage the single-use approach and promote reusable alternatives. Will the Minister of State give an update on what approach he intends to take in this area? As he is aware, at the beginning of this year France banned the sale of certain fruit and vegetables that came wrapped in unnecessary plastic. If we walk down the fruit and vegetable aisle of any supermarket in Ireland, the amount of needless plastic wrapping we see on some food is astonishing. Such a ban is not included in the Bill. I asked a parliamentary question on whether the Minister intends to follow the French example. He indicated he was not planning to introduce a similar ban here as our supply chain is different from that of France and such a proposal would need to be examined further. Has further consideration being given to this? The amount of plastic wrapping we see is quite incredible. There is a plastic sticker on every individual apple or orange or whatever it might be.

On a related matter, one of the topics my colleague, Senator Lynn Boylan, raised during pre-legislative scrutiny was the standard of biodegradable packaging and the importance of ensuring we simply do not replace single-use plastics with single-use biodegradable containers that have questionable content, for example, PFAS. The environmental charity, VOICE Ireland, gave evidence during pre-legislative scrutiny that a compost bowl obtained in the Oireachtas canteen was the highest rated for PFAS, with 12 times the allowable amount of that chemical coating on the bowl. These chemicals touch people's food, and when the container is composted, they can end up back in a farmer's field and in the food chain. Recently, Denmark and California banned PFAS in food contact material. Has the Minister of State given consideration to this?

I welcome the proposal in the Bill to draft a national food waste prevention strategy. Despite the horrendous level of world hunger, more than one quarter of food produced worldwide is wasted. In Ireland, people have become more conscientious about food waste in recent years. The arrival of food waste prevention apps that allow people to buy excess food from shops and bakeries for a discount highlights the positive role that technology can play in fighting food waste. During pre-legislative scrutiny, I raised the issue of the need for mandatory reporting by food businesses of the amount of food waste they generate and the actions taken to reduce such waste. Under the provisions of the Bill and the strategy, we have to reduce food waste by 50% by 2030. It is arguable that a mandatory 7% food waste reduction target should be set each year with appropriate enforcement mechanisms to ensure we can meet this target. Will the Minister of State outline what consideration has been given to this mandatory approach?

On the deposit return scheme, while the details of the proposed scheme are not included in the Bill, it forms a key part of the circular economy approach. Last year, regulations were signed by the Minister for a deposit return scheme for plastic bottles and aluminium cans. This is supposed to come into effect later this year. While this is welcome and long overdue, Sinn Féin is strongly of the opinion that glass should be included in any new scheme. A recommendation from pre-legislative scrutiny similarly noted that, as glass is an acceptable material for deposit return and for the development of collection, cleaning and refilling infrastructure, consideration should be given to including glass containers in any future expansion of a deposit return scheme. Perhaps it is something the Minister of State might touch on in his closing remarks.

We welcome the new provisions that will allow local authorities to use CCTV and drones in a proportional manner to combat illegal dumping. It is an absolute scourge. I want to raise some questions on the Minister of State's engagement with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.

I expect we will have an opportunity to tease out those details on Committee Stage. There is a fine line here and it is important to get the balance right with regard to the use of this technology. It will require close scrutiny.

On the circular economy fund, will the Minister of State outline how much will be in the environment fund? What is the estimated annual income of this new circular economy fund? Will he provide detail on the activities to be financed by that new fund?

I will touch on a further point raised during prelegislative scrutiny, which has regard to repair shops. We heard from various witnesses who had tried to do their very best with repair shops. They told us of the barriers, hurdles and impediments they faced, one of which was the issue of VAT and insurance. Has the Minister of State engaged with the Minister for Finance on these matters?

We welcome the Bill. There is a very significant amount in it. How it impacts on the worst offenders, including businesses and corporations, will be important. It cannot just be left to individuals. We are happy to work with the Minister of State, who I know has taken a significant personal interest in and responsibility for bringing the Bill forward. I look forward to working with him on Committee Stage and further stages.

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